LOS ANGELES – The Kings raised their banner to the sky, then fell back to Earth.

A championship celebration 45 years in the making took place Saturday afternoon at Staples Center, where the Kings received their rings and took turns lifting the Stanley Cup over their heads in a pregame ceremony.

The Chicago Blackhawks did all the heavy lifting after that. A sellout crowd of 18,545, which waited an extra three months to see the Kings commemorate their first championship because of the NHL lockout, fell silent as the Blackhawks scored three first-period goals and beat the Kings, 5-2, in the first game of the season.

"You're going to make some physical mistakes in these first seven or eight games," said defenseman Rob Scuderi, who scored one of the Kings' goals. "That's just the way it is. I expect physical mistakes, but we have to be prepared mentally to play the game and at least give ourselves a chance."

Seven months and eight days after they beat the New Jersey Devils, the Kings wobbled at the start of their title defense. Defense and goaltending, which fueled last year's championship run, were lacking.

The Kings took two penalties in the first three minutes, allowed a five-on-three goal and allowed two more goals in the first 14:11. Goalie Jonathan Quick, the playoff MVP last year, allowed five goals on only 22 shots. Quick allowed five goals only once in 69 games last season.

"You have to get used to getting knocked down and getting back up," Quick said.

After the 30-minute banner-raising ceremony, which featured former Kings greats Marcel Dionne and Rogie Vachon as well as the family of a victim of the school shooting in Sandy Hook, Conn., the Kings started the game with energy and aggressiveness and had a handful of solid hits in the opening minutes.

The Kings were without two key players, though, and their absences played a bigger role in the defeat than any head-in-clouds feeling.

Last season's leading scorer, center Anze Kopitar, and veteran defenseman Willie Mitchell both missed the game because of knee injuries. The Kings missed them in equal measure.

Without Kopitar, the Kings had to adjust their top two lines, and there seemed to be little chemistry. The Kings generated only 21 shots on goal, and when third-line winger Trevor Lewis leads a team in shots on goal (four), that's generally not a good sign. The Kings also went 0 for 5 on the power play.

"Our top players can be a heck of a lot better players," Sutter said.

More surprising, though, was the ease with which the Blackhawks controlled the puck in the Kings' zone and put a handful of shots past Quick, who was playing his first game since offseason back surgery.

The Kings' regular top pairing of Drew Doughty and Scuderi did a solid job, but the other two pairings —- Alec Martinez with Slava Voynov, and Matt Greene with Davis Drewiske — appeared tentative and slow to react, and the Blackhawks' talented group of forwards pounced early and often.

Afterward, Sutter described his team's attitude as being similar to what it was before Game 4 of the Stanley Cup Final, and that wasn't a good thing.

The Kings took a 3-0 lead in the Final against New Jersey and then, with visions of a sweep and a championship in their heads, didn't play well and lost. Saturday, the Kings looked out of sync.

Chicago took the lead 3:41 into the game on a five-on-three goal by Patrick Kane. Marian Hossa's even-strength goal with 7:03 remaining in the first period made it 2-0 and Michael Frolik scored just 1:14 later.

Jonathan Toews scored on a rebound 1:16 into the second period to make it 4-0. The Kings got goals from Scuderi late in the second and Jordan Nolan midway through the third.

"Everyone is going to play their best game against the Cup champion," Kane said. "That's a game you want to prove yourself and make a statement."

Despite the loss, the Kings will always remember the pregame ceremony. Team owner Phillip Anschutz's wife, Nancy, handed out championship rings to the players, who then spaced themselves around the ice and did a pass-the-Stanley-Cup lap around the ice before the banner was lifted to the rafters.

Commissioner Gary Bettman attended but did not participate in the ceremony.

"As the ceremony was going on, most of our guys were thinking about the game," Quick said, "but obviously you're going to take a moment and it's a special moment for the team and fans."

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